Jogging / Running
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Don't rush into it. If you have access to a gym, you can use the threadmill just to get into the motion of running. and it's an easier way to move from the "walk fast" to "run" stage. Get a real good pair of shoes; go to a specialized store and let THEM choose the shoe for you. If you run outside, map yourself a small route (google map, or specialized sites like runkeeper) and run it a few times in different session to get to know how your body handles it. This was my last run (2nd outside run of the year): http://runkeeper.com/user/192374754/activity/32714982[^] Other than that, enjoy yourself and it IS ok to hurt after the first few runs.
Watched code never compiles.
How did you manage to finish at a lower elevation than you started? Major earthquake?
Will Rogers never met me.
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How did you manage to finish at a lower elevation than you started? Major earthquake?
Will Rogers never met me.
There's not much total elevation difference in my run; the graphic is a bit exagerated!, and in that particular one, I stopped "recording" before getting home, I walk the last 1/2 km. M.
Watched code never compiles.
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Am thinking of taking up jogging/running as a way to get fit...any advice to an unfit desk jockey (other than don't overdo it)?
If you've got a smartphone there are a plethora of running/tracking programs available - I used C25K on my Galaxy S and went from a completely unfit couch potato to running 8k non-stop in an hour in under 3 months. I just did this route http://www.endomondo.com/routes/7099348[^] at lunch in 27 minutes. As others have posted, take it slowly and get good shoes - I appreciate that barefoot is 'better' but you have to build up to that as well or you'll injure your feet too.
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You're welcome. As others have said, it's important to not overdo it when you're starting out. A good way to start is to alternate walking and running. If you've got light poles, street signs, houses, or other regularly spaced markers on your route, you can use them to space things out. Walk for two poles, run for one, and repeat for 20-30 minutes. Once you can do that without getting too tired or out of breath, switch to walking two poles, running two. Keep progressing (walk 1, run 3; you get the idea) until you eventually don't need the walking stretches. Even if you need to start out just walking, and running one brief stretch at the end, that's okay. One thing a lot of new runners seem to worry about is their 'pace'. The easiest measure is this: When you're running, you should be able to maintain a conversation with someone running with you. If you can't do that, you're going too fast.
viaducting wrote:
Have to watch my knees though!
Overuse injuries are really annoying. I was very gung-ho when I first started running, and it took my body a long while to catch up to what my brain wanted to do. During the first couple of years I was constantly fighting cases of shin splints, bruised meniscii in both knees, Achilles tendonitis, and even a couple stress fractures. It was my own damned fault for being impatient and not listening to what my body was saying. There's a difference between the discomfort/ache that results from effort and the pain of injury. If it's been a while since you exercised regularly, or this is a first time for you, it may take you a while to learn to tell the difference. If it's injury pain, STOP. If it's discomfort from the effort, that's a sign of progress :cool:.
viaducting wrote:
I'm not overweight (5'9", 10.75 stone)
Believe it or not, you sound like marathon material. A lot of the elite runners are your size. Unfortunately, I'm not in that category (6'1" and 15 stone; I need to drop about 15 pounds).
Software Zen:
delete this;Gary Wheeler wrote:
Believe it or not, you sound like marathon material.
Not my idea of fun! I used to swim a lot and could do 1.5 miles in an hour at my best but gave it up when I got ill a few years ago and never got back into exercising. (I think my dodgy knee was from too much breast stroke.) An hour of slog was as much as I could cope with without getting bored so I don't think I could cope with training for a marathon!
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Build up slowly using routes you now so you can judge your distance and pace. Some gentle stretching exercises before you start are a very good idea, but try not to overdo it. At first you'll probably find running quite uncomfortable, but if you persevere a little while you'll find that once you get through the initial discomfort the endorphins kick in and you start to get "the buzz". :) The first time Beth took me out running I could barely make it to the end of the road without being out of breath; now although I know the first half a mile or so can be a pain after that it's just great. I even enjoy a fast sprint to finish off our runs now. FWIW I prefer cross country (we often go round the edge of the golf course) to street running; YMMV. Finally, Beth and her Dad both swear by ChiRunning[^]; although I haven't quite got the knack of it yet it's definitely worth being aware of.
Anna :rose: Tech Blog | Visual Lint "Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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Looks like a great place to run! We tend to run around the Meyrick Park area in Bournemouth, which has some interesting terrain in places. If you look on this StreetView image[^] two of the footpaths we use are visible either side of the road (both immediately go up a hill, but we like it that way). It's so tranquil around there - virtually no traffic, and just the occasional dog walker or runner. The only real downside is a serious amount of mud in the winter!
Anna :rose: Tech Blog | Visual Lint "Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
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Looks like a great place to run! We tend to run around the Meyrick Park area in Bournemouth, which has some interesting terrain in places. If you look on this StreetView image[^] two of the footpaths we use are visible either side of the road (both immediately go up a hill, but we like it that way). It's so tranquil around there - virtually no traffic, and just the occasional dog walker or runner. The only real downside is a serious amount of mud in the winter!
Anna :rose: Tech Blog | Visual Lint "Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
Looks a nice area - plenty of trees. :) The lake near me is about 6 miles around which should be an achievable goal - only problem is it's swarming with emmets in the summer! :(
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Am thinking of taking up jogging/running as a way to get fit...any advice to an unfit desk jockey (other than don't overdo it)?
Modern exercise physiology and every recent medical study in the field will tell you that jogging is just about the single stupidest thing you could possibly do. It won't get you fit, just injured / worn down. High intensity sprinting, resistance training and long slow walks on the other hand are ideal. And if you're thinking of losing weight be aware that weight loss is 99.9% diet and almost no amount of exercise less than extreme and dangerous will make a difference. See more here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/[^]
There is no failure only feedback
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Build up slowly using routes you now so you can judge your distance and pace. Some gentle stretching exercises before you start are a very good idea, but try not to overdo it. At first you'll probably find running quite uncomfortable, but if you persevere a little while you'll find that once you get through the initial discomfort the endorphins kick in and you start to get "the buzz". :) The first time Beth took me out running I could barely make it to the end of the road without being out of breath; now although I know the first half a mile or so can be a pain after that it's just great. I even enjoy a fast sprint to finish off our runs now. FWIW I prefer cross country (we often go round the edge of the golf course) to street running; YMMV. Finally, Beth and her Dad both swear by ChiRunning[^]; although I haven't quite got the knack of it yet it's definitely worth being aware of.
Anna :rose: Tech Blog | Visual Lint "Why would anyone prefer to wield a weapon that takes both hands at once, when they could use a lighter (and obviously superior) weapon that allows you to wield multiple ones at a time, and thus supports multi-paradigm carnage?"
Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
At first you'll probably find running quite uncomfortable, but if you persevere a little while
There's a good reason for that: He and by extension you shouldn't be doing it in the first place without knowing the risks. Chronic cardio is a recipe for early painful death for nearly any average person. Modern science shows that the short and long term damage being done to the body is terrible. This sums up all the modern research nicely: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/case-against-cardio/[^]
There is no failure only feedback
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Anna-Jayne Metcalfe wrote:
At first you'll probably find running quite uncomfortable, but if you persevere a little while
There's a good reason for that: He and by extension you shouldn't be doing it in the first place without knowing the risks. Chronic cardio is a recipe for early painful death for nearly any average person. Modern science shows that the short and long term damage being done to the body is terrible. This sums up all the modern research nicely: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/case-against-cardio/[^]
There is no failure only feedback
I'm not going to be doing intense high-cardio work just getting more exercise. Sounds like the person who wrote that blog had massively overdone the training over an extended period.
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I'm not going to be doing intense high-cardio work just getting more exercise. Sounds like the person who wrote that blog had massively overdone the training over an extended period.
Honestly if you take a few minutes to do some research on all the latest thinking on being fit you will see a lot of the same thing from many different sources: high intensity sprinting, resistance training and long slow walking. That blog just wraps it all up in one place. People will take forever to research nearly anything but when it comes to diet and exercise they just go with "conventional wisdom" which is utterly wrong at almost every level. Why go jogging for an hour when you can literally get fitter in just 4 minutes of Tabata sprints? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training[^]
There is no failure only feedback
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Honestly if you take a few minutes to do some research on all the latest thinking on being fit you will see a lot of the same thing from many different sources: high intensity sprinting, resistance training and long slow walking. That blog just wraps it all up in one place. People will take forever to research nearly anything but when it comes to diet and exercise they just go with "conventional wisdom" which is utterly wrong at almost every level. Why go jogging for an hour when you can literally get fitter in just 4 minutes of Tabata sprints? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_training[^]
There is no failure only feedback
Well the initial reports look promising but it'd be interesting to know how a lifetime of them compares to the received wisdom.
John C wrote:
Why go jogging for an hour when you can literally get fitter in just 4 minutes of Tabata sprints?
See the countryside, get fresh air, talk to people, make some vitamin D... :)
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Modern exercise physiology and every recent medical study in the field will tell you that jogging is just about the single stupidest thing you could possibly do. It won't get you fit, just injured / worn down. High intensity sprinting, resistance training and long slow walks on the other hand are ideal. And if you're thinking of losing weight be aware that weight loss is 99.9% diet and almost no amount of exercise less than extreme and dangerous will make a difference. See more here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/[^]
There is no failure only feedback
John C wrote:
And if you're thinking of losing weight
Not really, I'm under 11 stone as it is. It's more the fitness side of things.
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Well the initial reports look promising but it'd be interesting to know how a lifetime of them compares to the received wisdom.
John C wrote:
Why go jogging for an hour when you can literally get fitter in just 4 minutes of Tabata sprints?
See the countryside, get fresh air, talk to people, make some vitamin D... :)
We go out every day to the park and go for either an approximately one hour walk or one day a week we do a warm up walk, tabata sprints then a cool down walk. Either way we're not jogging and getting plenty of fresh air and vitamin d. :)
viaducting wrote:
t it'd be interesting to know how a lifetime of them compares to the received wisdom.
Well we sure know the alternative results. Old, healthy, long distance runners or cyclists are exceedingly rare.
There is no failure only feedback
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John C wrote:
And if you're thinking of losing weight
Not really, I'm under 11 stone as it is. It's more the fitness side of things.
Best define "fit" before you start so that you're not just spinning cycles uselessly. These guys have a pretty solid definition of "fit": http://www.crossfit.com/[^] Fortunately they don't advocate chronic cardio either and if you want to be extremely fit and have the time to devote to it there's few better places to start.
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